Peace Piper
07-25-2013, 10:07 PM
Unlocking the latest Wyden code: Does NSA operate a bulk domestic location tracking program?
Submitted by sosadmin on Thu, 07/25/2013 - 18:08
http://www.privacysos.org/node/1130
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has a habit of dropping hints to the public about classified information related to the surveillance state. In remarks to the Center for American Progress earlier this week, he hinted that the bombshell revelations about NSA spying -- ranging from mass metadata collection to invasive PRISM snooping -- are really just the tip of the iceberg.
Of particular interest were comments that could be read as implying that the government operates bulk, domestic location tracking programs, and also uses malware to turn our cell phones into bugs and spy cameras.
The Senator did not explicitly disclose any such programs, but there is ample reason to believe this speech was meant to sound warning bells about precisely those issues. That's because Ron Wyden has a habit of finding clever ways to inform the public about secret surveillance programs, without running afoul of the secrecy rules that prevent him from explicitly disclosing classified information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZNDY0gMmn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZNDY0gMmn8
Wyden's strategic interrogations and public warnings
An outspoken privacy defender, Wyden sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he has repeatedly pushed intelligence officials to answer what we now know are strategic, leading questions. The following exchange between Wyden and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) head James Clapper is probably the most famous example of Wyden’s wily ways...snip more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwiUVUJmGjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwiUVUJmGjs
...Why was Senator Wyden pressing so hard to get the director of national intelligence to tell him whether the government thinks it needs a warrant to track our physical locations? Could that be because he knows the answer, and it isn't a good one?
He gives us a hint in his Center for American Progress speech, video of which is embedded at the top of this page.
Despite the efforts of the intelligence community leadership to downplay the privacy impact of the Patriot Act collection, the bulk collection of phone records significantly impacts the privacy of million of lawabiding Americans. If you know who someone called, when they called, where they called from, and how long they talked, you lay bare the personal lives of lawabiding Americans to the scrutiny of government bureaucrats and outside contractors.
This is particularly true if you’re vacuuming up cell phone location data, essentially turning every American’s cell phone into a tracking device. We are told this is not happening today, but intelligence officials have told the press that they currently have the legal authority to collect Americans’ location information in bulk.
Especially troubling is the fact that there is nothing in the Patriot Act that limits this sweeping bulk collection to phone records. The government can use the Patriot Act’s business records authority to collect, collate and retain all sorts of sensitive information, including medical records, financial records, or credit card purchases. They could use this authority to develop a database of gun owners or readers of books and magazines deemed subversive. This means that the government’s authority to collect information on lawabiding American citizens is essentially limitless. If it is a record held by a business, membership organization, doctor, or school, or any other third party, it could be subject to bulk collection under the Patriot Act...snip more
http://www.privacysos.org/node/1130
We know "The Tip of the Iceberg". Looks like besides recording all "digital exhaust" they are bulk tracking too.
Submitted by sosadmin on Thu, 07/25/2013 - 18:08
http://www.privacysos.org/node/1130
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has a habit of dropping hints to the public about classified information related to the surveillance state. In remarks to the Center for American Progress earlier this week, he hinted that the bombshell revelations about NSA spying -- ranging from mass metadata collection to invasive PRISM snooping -- are really just the tip of the iceberg.
Of particular interest were comments that could be read as implying that the government operates bulk, domestic location tracking programs, and also uses malware to turn our cell phones into bugs and spy cameras.
The Senator did not explicitly disclose any such programs, but there is ample reason to believe this speech was meant to sound warning bells about precisely those issues. That's because Ron Wyden has a habit of finding clever ways to inform the public about secret surveillance programs, without running afoul of the secrecy rules that prevent him from explicitly disclosing classified information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZNDY0gMmn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZNDY0gMmn8
Wyden's strategic interrogations and public warnings
An outspoken privacy defender, Wyden sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he has repeatedly pushed intelligence officials to answer what we now know are strategic, leading questions. The following exchange between Wyden and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) head James Clapper is probably the most famous example of Wyden’s wily ways...snip more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwiUVUJmGjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwiUVUJmGjs
...Why was Senator Wyden pressing so hard to get the director of national intelligence to tell him whether the government thinks it needs a warrant to track our physical locations? Could that be because he knows the answer, and it isn't a good one?
He gives us a hint in his Center for American Progress speech, video of which is embedded at the top of this page.
Despite the efforts of the intelligence community leadership to downplay the privacy impact of the Patriot Act collection, the bulk collection of phone records significantly impacts the privacy of million of lawabiding Americans. If you know who someone called, when they called, where they called from, and how long they talked, you lay bare the personal lives of lawabiding Americans to the scrutiny of government bureaucrats and outside contractors.
This is particularly true if you’re vacuuming up cell phone location data, essentially turning every American’s cell phone into a tracking device. We are told this is not happening today, but intelligence officials have told the press that they currently have the legal authority to collect Americans’ location information in bulk.
Especially troubling is the fact that there is nothing in the Patriot Act that limits this sweeping bulk collection to phone records. The government can use the Patriot Act’s business records authority to collect, collate and retain all sorts of sensitive information, including medical records, financial records, or credit card purchases. They could use this authority to develop a database of gun owners or readers of books and magazines deemed subversive. This means that the government’s authority to collect information on lawabiding American citizens is essentially limitless. If it is a record held by a business, membership organization, doctor, or school, or any other third party, it could be subject to bulk collection under the Patriot Act...snip more
http://www.privacysos.org/node/1130
We know "The Tip of the Iceberg". Looks like besides recording all "digital exhaust" they are bulk tracking too.